5 Things failed online sellers would have done differently

So easy has it become to launch an online storefront that hundreds of success and failure stories are written every other day. 

While as bad as it is for the sellers experiencing crash, the cases set are the perfect example for the other vendors to learn from. After all, like the saying goes…

‘Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.’

While many publications and blogs have been so kind to the million-dollars Amazon and eBay stores, few of them have shown equal enthusiasm in covering failed stories—how the online sellers made all the wrong decisions, why they failed to earn “riches”, and what are the things they would do differently if they are to start again on the same path. 

Are you an online seller?

To help you learn from all the wrongs, here are 5 things that failed online sellers would have done differently if they can travel back to time- 

Getting rid of the lone wolf mentality 

Admittedly, it looks like handling few online storefronts is much easy and one person is sufficient. However, when dived deeper into it, there’s a lot to take care of and even 24 hours in a day isn’t ample—not at least if one is looking to make big bucks. So a ‘lone wolf’ mentality is one the foremost things that failed online sellers would get rid of. Many think they would outsource help while others say they would go for managed service of top e-commerce solution providers. 

Not wasting time in all the manual work

In the backend, there are a lot of activities—some are time-consuming, less important and yield low return. Many people, naively, spend most of their time in these small tasks, giving less of their time on more important activities like marketing, customer retention, customer service and more. The failed online sellers say that going with automation tools or hiring an additional help would have been a better idea for them. 

Spending more time in marketing 

Marketing is the backbone of any and every business—something that many online sellers don’t understand, especially the new market players. Too hung up on other activities of their storefronts, they spend no to very less time here. And the outcome is rather evident- they fail! If they are to start back again, the yesteryear sellers believe, they would spend more time promoting their products and online stores on Facebook and other open platforms. 

Analyzing sales performance regularly 

With market trends changing every so often, making informed decisions is a key for online sellers. Meaning, analyzing their sales performance regularly – and changing strategies accordingly – isn’t optional anymore, it’s essential. Failed Amazon and eBay sellers, now, understand this well. Many of them advise the new players to spend more time with their marketing and sales metrics to know exactly, without assumptions, how things are going and where their business stands. 

Signing up to multi-channel ecommerce solution 

Multi-channel e-commerce solution isn’t a new thing. Successful online sellers rely on them intensively. And the failed stories say that they should have signup to them. In partnership with marketplaces, webstores and comparison search engines, a top e-commerce solution plays many significant roles for the sellers, right from offering easy-to-use eBay Amazon tool to making things easier with seamless integration of Magento NewEgg and more. They save time, stress and make life easier for the sellers. 

These 5 things that sellers, who failed, would do differently if they are to try again; 5 stories that new online vendors can learn from. 

Now that you know, don’t make the same mistakes; keep your business (and yourself) on the right track!

Online selling- 4 Smart ways to make more sales with NO acquisition cost

One of the biggest differences between the successful online sellers and the not-so-successful ones is Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). The former group aims (and succeeds) in keeping this cost to the minimal, hence enjoying higher profit margin without really increasing the price of their products. 

Wondering how they do it?

Here are 4 smart ways to make more sales with NO acquisition cost- 

1. Offering solid post-sale service- 

Providing your buying customers with a solid post-sales service is nothing short of essential for them to have a satisfying shopping experience, and return back to you for more purchases. Give them a better experience and you can up your future sales with no additional cost. 

2.Triggering word-of-mouth marketing- 

Instead of doing all the promotional work by yourself, why not let your existing customers (or fans) do it for you at no cost?!!! So aim to trigger word-of-mouth marketing; be it by offering remarkable additional services or being excitingly engaging with your audience on social media platforms.  

3.Start blogging- 

Blogging is one of the cheapest forms of marketing that, if done correctly, vouches for high conversion (both immediate and long-term sales) with at no additional cost. So start writing blog posts. Either go with self-hosted blogs like Wordpress.org or the free platforms like Blogger. 

4.Signup to e-commerce solution- 

Multi-channel e-commerce solution helps indirectly improve your sales. With seamless integration of marketplaces, webstores and comparison search engines, including Shopify Amazon, it helps you handle everything from real-time inventory to Google product feed to store optimization. This significantly improves your efficiency, indirectly boosting your sales.

These are 4 smart ways to make more sales with no acquisition cost. Of course, they are easier said than done. And it might take some time and lots of patience. But in the long-run, these ways can significantly improve your return by a big margin.